Workers from various organisations in Tema, over the weekend benefited from first aid training in basic life support procedures. The training, put together by New Crystal Health Services (NCHS), a private health facility in collaboration with hiplife artiste Okyeame Kwame is part of a year-long screening and health education campaign by the hospital.

The team put together a medical drill that included a walk through the principal streets of Tema, an aerobics session and a basic life support session. Hundreds of residents also joined the workers and Okyeame Kwame as well as the staff of NCHS to undertake the exercise.

Addressing the participants, Okyeame Kwame urged them to be stay healthy at all times as doing so will enhance their productivity at work. HIV Ambassador, Rev. John Azumah who took part in the exercise also educated the participants on HIV/AIDS, ways to deal with stigmatisation and collective steps that can be taken to reduce the spread of the disease.

The main highlight of the event came off after the walk and aerobics session. It was the free training in the basic life support procedures and it was done by Dr Carl Engmann, the Head of Integrated Diagnostic Services (IDS). Histalk centered on the guidelines for out-of-hospital, single rescuer, adult basic life support (BLS).

Dr. Engmanntook participants through the dos and don’ts when a person suddenly collapses or is found to be unconscious.He explained, it required that the rescuer assess for danger signs within the immediate environment of the unconscious person and evacuate him to a safe environment. After which a response is elicited from the unconscious person by shouting out his name or asking how the patient is doing.

He went on further to state that any foreign body or items such as dentures, vomitus, blood or other fluids that could block the airways be removed after which the patient can be assessed for breathing. The pulse should then be checked, and the person placed in a recovery position once breathing and circulation is established

He said if there is no breathing or pulse, then Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) should be performed right away. This, he said would have to be continued until breathing and circulation (pulse) is established or until medical help arrives. He said it was important for the participants to know this procedure and be able to assist people in trouble before a medical officer comes in.

Dr. Engmann also urged the participants to regularly check their health status by undertaking medical checkups. He said the Integrated Diagnostic Centre, located at Ashaiman has various packages for workers who tend to have busy schedules and urged them to take advantage of it to know their health status. He said the Centre also has specialized medical examination packages for specific age brackets and encourage the general public to avail themselves of the various packages to ensure that they are healthy at all times.

As part of his submission, participants were given the chance test to the knowledge they had acquired through demonstrations.